If I asked you to define what success means for your farm, how would you respond? At first glance, the answer seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? Since the farm is a business, many would be inclined to define success purely in terms of financial outcomes.

Thinking solely in terms of financial outcomes – sometimes even looking only at the financial outcomes of one single crop year – usually doesn’t reveal the full picture. Looking only to those outcomes as measures of success can be deceiving. Doing so could even lull the farm’s leadership into a belief that the farm is very successful even though other major components of what makes a successful operation are being neglected.

The full picture

The key is to get a more balanced look at different measures of success in the operation. The farm’s financial outcomes for the year are certainly part of that picture, but they’re not the entire story.

The reality is that because each farm operation is unique in certain ways, each farm’s definition of what success means will be a little bit different. When a farm operation defines exactly what it will look like to be a successful operation, they can then hone in very closely to create goals and the steps they will take to achieve them.

Farm operations aren’t cookie cutters of each other and their goals and definition of success aren’t going to be, either. If you’re working with advisors who use a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach when it comes to your farm and your goals, then it’s probably time to find someone else to work with. They should care about tailoring their advice and helping you make plans that are specific to your operation – not a generalized idea of the average “successful farm.”

Tips to define success

Here are three questions to sit down and ask after harvest with your farm’s leadership team or farming partners to help define success for your operation.

How are you navigating this market?

Farmers have found that getting some third-party perspective from our market advisors has helped ease their minds. The advisors help farmer clients with planning and execution around marketing decisions and help keep them up to speed on the current rapidly-changing grain market situation – and how it impacts their operation.

Get a free two-week trial of our marketing information service (MarketView Basic). Your free trial includes regular audio and video updates, technical analysis, recommendations and more. Learn more about our market advisor programs and offerings at www.waterstreetag.com.